Mark 10:13-16 (NRSV) - North Prospect Union UCC

Mark 10:13-16 (NRSV)
Jesus Blesses Little Children
(Mt 19.13—15; Lk 18.15—17)
13
People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the
disciples spoke sternly to them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them,
“Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom
of God belongs. 15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child
will never enter it.” 16 And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed
them.

Jesus and the Children
A sermon preached at North Prospect Union United Church of Christ, Medford, Massachusetts
Date: June 17, 2007
Rev. Dudley C. Rose
Text: Mark 10:13-16
I am told that my grandson Aidan is a lot like I was as a child. This is not good news for
his parents. Aidan is a bundle of scrapes and bruises, each earned in some fearless act of
adventure born of an endless curiosity and a tenacious will. Before he could walk, he had one of
those seats you hook to the top of the doorway, the kind that has a spring. The child bounces up
and down for the double purpose of pleasure and strengthening his legs. Aidan, however, was
not satisfied with bouncing. Oh no, he found the pleasure only when he got the device whirling
in a wide circle, flying around off the ground, like the old electric swings at the carnival.
Another time, before he could walk, his mother found him sitting in the middle of the kitchen
table with no idea how he managed to climb up there. But this photo gives you an idea that
climbing on a table would fit his MO. That picture was taken before he was one, and he
managed to get over this gate and head up the stairs. Recently, now a little over two, his parents
have resorted to another gate to keep him out of the kitchen. However, that gate wasn’t enough
either. When they found the container of flour all over the floor, mixed with the olive oil, it was
clear the fence wasn’t working. It turned out that Aidan would drag a big plastic block to the
gate for a step, climb up and tumble to the other side. Now there are two gates, one on top of the
other, about five feet high. My guess is that he was just trying to make himself a cake.
The question arises, are such critters as this what Jesus referred to when he said that the
kingdom of God belongs to the children Was Jesus suggesting that only energetic and fearless
cake-covered climbers could scramble their way into the kingdom of God
Probably not. We have no evidence that Jesus meant to indulge the antics of the terrible
twos. Indeed, we have no evidence that children being children was nearly as prized in Biblical
times as it is in ours. To be honest, children then were valuable primarily insofar as they carried
the family name forward. The purpose of a child was to become an adult and continue the
lineage. The disciples were acting perfectly within the norm of their time when they tried to
keep the children from distracting Jesus. Of course, not many generations ago from our time it
was commonly said that children were to be seen but not heard. That is, it’s only in the last
hundred years or so that the experience of childhood itself has been of interest or of value in our
culture, either.
I think we’re much better off the way it is now. There is something very special about
childhood. It is a unique time of joy and adventure and learning. But it’s still not exactly what
Jesus had in mind when he said that the kingdom of God belonged to such as these. At least
Jesus was not saying that the recipe for the kingdom of God is, climb over the fence, pour the
flour and olive oil all over the floor and mix up a cake.
But there is something in this scene that interests Jesus. Aidan, his parents hope, will
learn what things he should and should not do. Through experience and discipline he will learn
what is acceptable ands what is not. And Jesus would surely support this trajectory. Jesus is not
1

saying that the kingdom of God belongs to two-year-old tyrants.
But Jesus is nonetheless skeptical about certain aspects of what happens to us on the way
to adulthood. Not to put too fine a point on it, the more we adults learn, the more we think we
know, and the less we are open to things that are new. Part of growing up is to learn not to touch
the hot stove, not to make messes in the kitchen, and to become a responsible human being. But
along the way come perceptions, prejudices and convictions that become written in our grey
matter, if not in stone. And then when someone like Jesus comes along with a new idea, we may
be unprepared to let it break into our minds or hearts.
Our passage this morning finds us in the midst of the most intense part of Jesus’ teaching.
Within a span of three chapters, Jesus tells his disciples three times that he will be betrayed and
crucified. The first time Peter, as you recall, rebuked Jesus. Peter was certain what kind of
victory Jesus ought to have, and it had little to do with crucifixion and defeat. The second time
Jesus told them of his end, they may have accepted Jesus’ impending death, but they thought the
movement would continue toward the victory they had in mind. After Jesus predicts his death a
second time, the disciples are arguing among themselves about which one of them is the greatest.
It appears that they were getting in line for succession. Okay, he’s going to die; which one of us
gets to take over the reins
It’s in this mind set that the disciples try to chase the children off. The disciples have
more important things to deal with, like which one of them deserves to be the next leader. It’s
here that Jesus invites the children to his lap and tells his disciples that it is to such as these that
belongs the kingdom of God.
What he was trying to get his disciples to see was that they were going to have to unlearn
a lot of the things they knew for certain, the things that now as adults they had come to take for
granted. Most especially, they were going to have to unlearn the idea that true victory comes by
might and force. The disciples understood victory to be the overthrow of Rome and the Jewish
authorities. Jesus understood victory to come from his rejection of violence and his rejection
overthrow of others, even if his way cost him his life. It would be hard to imagine two such
different views. One says you win by winning on the terms of might and force. The other says
you win by winning on the terms of love and forgiveness. And the disciples, at least this far in
the story, are totally incapable of even considering what Jesus is saying. They need to become
like children, Jesus says, open-minded enough to hear something totally different from what they
are sure is true.
Of course, Jesus finds things much the same with his current-day disciples, us. Do we
not find it hard to take seriously the sermon on the mount
38
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to
you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; 40
and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; 41 and if anyone
forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.
43
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
24
“No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be
devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
How natural it is, as an adult, to hem and haw, to rationalize these sayings away, to say
that they are nice pieties, but certainly nothing you can actually live by. Oh sure, maybe it will
2

e that way in heaven, but Jesus surely knew that it isn’t possible here. Maybe we say that. Or
maybe we say, well, Jesus did those things, but he was God as well as human. How hard it is to
just say that Jesus meant exactly what he said. And the more adult we get, the harder it gets.
At this point Aidan thinks he can make cake on the floor and that life is one bid
adventure. Sadly, he will have to learn otherwise, at least about the cake. But my hope is that he
will grow up and still believe things even more impossible. Maybe he will believe that the
certain truths he’s told aren’t as certain as they’re made out to be. Maybe he’ll believe that love
and forgiveness are possible. It will be hard, for sure. But my prayer is that he remain enough of
a child to continue to dream the impossible, that he remain enough of a child to take a block up
to the fences that the world puts around such dreams, that he will remain enough of a child to
fearlessly tumble over the fence, drag the ingredients off the shelf and mix himself up a cake.
Amen.
Copyright © 2007 by Dudley C. Rose. All rights reserved.
3